Softball earns key NSIC sweep at Northern State

Wednesday, April 24

Aberdeen, SD

2 p.m.

St. Cloud State

35-14, 0

Northern State University

18-29, 0

St. Cloud State

Northern State

Photo by: Kelsey Whaley

4/24/2019 6:32:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

ABERDEEN, SD. – The St. Cloud State University softball team found the perfect solution for ending a three-game losing skid: by earning a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) sweep. St. Cloud State earned two key conference wins on the road Wednesday afternoon in Aberdeen, South Dakota, as the team took down Northern State University 7-0 and 7-2 to improve to 36-14 overall and 18-8 in NSIC play.

The Huskies got over their three-game slump, as they took game one by a final score of 7-0 thanks to a few home runs, some timely hits, and smart base running by the St. Cloud State base runners. After putting runners on in the first and second but having nothing to show for it, Morgan Emmans (Blaine, Minn. / Mounds Park Academy) got things started for the Huskies, as her solo home run in the top of the third gave the team a 1-0 lead it would never relinquish.

That one run would prove to be enough for starting pitcher Kate Kopeck (Lumsden, Sask. / Lumsden), but St. Cloud State went ahead and scored six more runs for its starting pitcher in the final five innins of the ball game. It started with two in the fourth, as Cassie Francesconi (Schomberg, Ont. / Emily Carr Secondary) and Brooke Bowlin (Chaska, Minn. / Holy Family) took advantage of a fielding error by the Wolves to give the Huskies a 3-0 advantage after four.

St Cloud State was kept quiet in the fifth, but the team would go ahead and score two in the sixth and two in the seventh to result in the final 7-0 score. Alexis Jacobs (Woodbury, Minn. / Woodbury) hit her fourth home run in the season to put the team ahead 4-0, while Emmans, Bowlin and Raven Vanden Langenberg (Seymour, Wis. / Seymour) scored the other three runs for the Huskies.

As mentioned earlier, Emmans home run would have been enough for Kopeck, as she went the distance to earn her team-leading 15^th victory of the season. Kopeck was absolute gold in the circle, as she gave up no runs on five hits and struck out nine in seven innings of work for St. Cloud State.

The 'Skies stayed hot in game two, as they spotted seven runs on the Wolves for the second time to take game two by a final score of 7-2. It helped that St. Cloud State once again put together a huge third inning, as the team scored five runs on four hits, including a solo homer from Alexandra Pinkoski (Prior Lake, Minn. / Prior Lake) to hold a 5-0 lead after three innings of play.

The Huskies already tacked on four runs by the time Pinkowski stepped to the plate, as Maya Keating (Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton-Warrensville) scored during Megan Conrads (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville South) to give St. Cloud State the early 1-0 lead. From there, Jasmin Estrada (Litchfield, Minn. / Litchfield) would score on a fielder's choice by Bowlin, and the both the speedy outfielder and Vanden Langeberg scored on an RBI single from Jacobs to boost the Huskies lead to 4-0.

Pinkowski's home run over the fence would mark the final run of the inning for St. Cloud State, as the team held a 5-0 lead until the bottom of the sixth inning. In that inning, the Wolves managed to cut the Huskies lead to 5-2 on a one out home run by three-hole hitter Kennady Thompson. That was all the damage Northern State would do in the final two innings, as St. Cloud State tacked on two insurance runs and Lauren Kirchberg (Columbus, Wis. / Columbus) closed out the game in the seventh to secure the 7-2 victory.

Sydney LaPoint (Green Bay, Wis. / Bayport) earned the win in season two, as she gave up two runs on six hits in six innings of work. Kirchberg pitched a flawless seventh inning to clinch the win, while Bowlin had a 3-4 day at the plate in game two with a run and RBI. Additionally, Jacobs went 2-3, while Estrada and Conrads both hit .500 in game two.

With the sweep, the Huskies overall record improves to 36-14 and the team is now 18-8 in NSIC play. St. Cloud State will close out the regular season at home this upcoming weekend, as the team hosts the University of Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State University in the final NSIC doubleheaders of the regular season.